QUEBEC — The Supreme Court of Canada will begin a four-day hearing in Ottawa on a constitutional challenge to Quebec's Bill 21. Since 2019, the secularism law bars some public sector workers including judges, police officers and teachers from wearing religious attire at work.

Thirteen challengers brought the case to court, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the World Sikh Organization of Canada and the English Montreal School Board. Bill 21 bans religious symbols for public employees in positions of authority.

Quebec Premier François Legault said "I think it's good for what we call the 'vivre ensemble.'" Proponents of Bill 21 have argued that it upholds secularism and neutrality in Quebec public life and is not intended to discriminate against any religion.

Research by a York University professor who spoke to more than 400 Muslim women in Quebec about Bill 21 found that 73% of the women felt the secularism law affected their ability to look for a job, while a similar share considered leaving the province because of the law. More than half of the women experienced racist remarks or prejudice at work.

Some Muslim women in Quebec said the law pushed them to apply for jobs within the Muslim community, such as at Muslim-owned businesses or private schools. Other visible minority groups, including Jews and Sikhs in Quebec, have also spoken about the impact of the secularism law on their communities.

Amrit Kaur is a Sikh teacher who grew up in Quebec, wears a turban and is one of the appellants challenging the law. In 2021, Kaur wrote online that the secularism law ended her prospects as an educator in Quebec and pushed her to flee religious persecution like a refugee. Kaur now lives in British Columbia.

Lisa Robicheau is a 41-year-old single mother of two who wears a hijab and works as a contract support worker for students with disabilities in Montreal's English-language school system. While Robicheau's job is exempt from the secularism law, she has enrolled in a university program to seek a different job or possibly leave the province. "I've spent the majority of my life here, but it never feels like home," Robicheau said. "I am constantly being treated like an outsider."

Union leaders say that dozens of Montreal school staff hired after the law was proposed have been fired or suspended for wearing religious symbols. The Quebec government plans to expand the secularism law to apply to all staff at public schools and to daycare center employees and to ban prayer in public spaces.

Quebec's lower courts upheld Bill 21, ruling it valid because the province invoked the notwithstanding clause to pass it. The notwithstanding clause in the Canadian constitution allows provinces and the federal government to override certain charter rights, including freedom of religion and equality rights.